Started out early Thursday morning knowing the weather was forecasted to turn bad around lunch. Ran the shoreline looking for a few peelers after setting out the minnow trap. Water was dirty from the wind early in the week, but I still managed to dip 30 hard crab keepers and 2 peelers. Went and retrieved the minnow trap and had 3 dozen nice bull minnows. The Assawoman Bay is loaded with a lot of nice crabs this year as well as quite a few small crabs, which is a great sign for later in the season. The bay tolerates a lot of crabbing pressure from fish, birds, and recreational crabbers, but still seems to stay as productive as ever.
By the time I arrived at the south side of the Ocean City Inlet it was 9:00am. Made a couple drifts through the inlet and caught 2-12" Croakers ( Hardheads as you Maryland people refer to them. That's what we in Delaware call tourists. That and the Pennsylvania Navy.). Released one and cut the other into strips for bait. I love to eat croakers. When eaten fresh, they are delicious. I caught them last year upwards of 18" and, fried, they made a great sandwich. Anyway, made a few more drifts when the tide had just about stopped coming in. Caught and released 5 healthy Flounder. No keepers, but they were about fifteen inches and fat. They'll be nice fish this fall.
Got a phone call that there were some bad storms heading toward the coast. This was about 11;00, so figured I better start heading home. By the time I arrived in the Fenwick Ditch, the first storm cell that arrived had moved out in the Ocean, Heard the Coast Guard talking on the radio. They were heading out into the Ocean, off Sea Colony where apparently a vessel was struck by lighting and they were in need of medical care and towing. Not five minutes later a "take immediate action" alarm came over the radio for Ocean City Maryland to Cape May New Jersey for high winds, rain and lightning. I saw it coming as I headed south of Fenwick. Following my instincts, I turned around and headed back. Before I got back, all hell broke loose. I couldn't see a foot in front of the boat and the wind was unbelievable, I was a hundred yards from the Route 54 bridge and couldn't see it. It let up slightly and I headed under the bridge where I tied up. The lightning was right overhead, the winds were howling, and the water was running off the bridge by the buckets. It lasted about twenty minutes. It was the 4th of July about 6 years ago when I remember a storm this bad.
Never forget Mother Nature is always in charge.
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